Lesson for Conrail Investors:
Start Taking Profit With Grace

After the Civil War, Cornelius Vanderbilt directed agents to "buy every share" of the Erie Rail Road -- the prized link from the Great Lakes eastward. But much as he bought, more shares appeared.

It developed that an inglorious trio of Daniel Drew, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk were driving the stock to the ground. Drew was treasurer and a director of Erie, but that hardly dissuaded him from shorting its stock. The "Erie ring" effectively set up a printing press to mint dubious shares, flooding the market....